The given names chosen by Jews over the the centuries were dictated in
part by the factors described above.

In Judaism, the given name is much more than just a label identifying an
individual -- it represents HIM -- his values, his personality, his
stance with respect to religious, cultural, assimilational issues, in
short, his essence. The given name determines not only the person's
character but also his fate, and the name therefor takes on a highly
charged symbolic value. Perhaps this is related to the observation that
children frequently resemble their grandparents in personality and looks,
more than they do their own parents, and this is linked to frequently
naming Jewish children after their grandparents. In Judaism, the given
name is the noun and the surname is its adjective.

Broadly speaking, the impact of Judaism and Jewish history on the given
names adopted by Jews may be divided into three major periods of
history:

Ancient Period

2000 BCE - 587 BCE

Extended Babylonian Period

587 BCE - 950 CE

European Period

950 - 1925

During the period 2000 BCE - 587 BCE, Hebrew names were not repeated and
the borrowing of foreign names was negligible. The Extended Babylonian
Period covers the period in which there was a vigorous, scholarly Jewish
presence in Babylonia. During this period, there was a heavy borrowing of
secular names from the Middle East society in which Jews lived, and the
conversion of these names into Jewish names. After about 950 CE,
Babylonian society went into eclipse and the center of Jewish life moved to
Europe; in this period, European names were taken into the Jewish name
lexicon at a rapid pace.

In the earliest Biblical days, a Hebrew given name was the exclusive
possession of the person named, and these names were not repeated for a
thousand years or more. Thus, the names of the Patriarchs Avraham,
Yitzchak, and Yaakov were not re-used for over a thousand years, and the
name of King David was not re-used for 1500 years (in the Gaonic period).
Before the Babylonian Exile (587 BCE), there is no record of a Jewish child
having been named after a parent or grandparent. The impression is that no
such custom existed, and indeed, that it was avoided.

Only Hebrew names were used before the Babylonian Exile, but afterwards
some Chaldean and Aramaic names became Jewish names. One group of exiles
was fiercely traditionalist and used only Hebrew names. They re-used older
Hebrew names like Yoseyf, Binyamin, and Shimon for the first time, and even
created new Hebrew names like Nechemya, Chasadya, Pedaya, and Melatya.

However, another group (assimilationists) was attracted to foreign names
and used them actively. For example, typical Aramaic names ending in "ay"
were adopted (Mordechay). And some Hebrew names were converted into
derived Aramaic names, e.g., Shamay from Shemaya.

This tendency for Jews in the religiously observant end of the spectrum
to emphasize the use of Hebrew given names, while Jews at the secular end
of the spectrum emphasize local secular names, continued throughout Jewish
history and exists today. Accordingly, Jewish genealogists find it
worthwhile to probe the history of their ancestors with respect to their
position in the spectrum of Jewish group types.

During the Tanachic portion (2000 BCE - 500 CE) of the Ancient Period,
encompassing the time of the Tora, Prophets, and Scriptures, Hebrew given
names could be divided into five categories (2):

Some examples of Known Events names are: Geyrshom ("stranger:" Moshe
named him Geyrshom, because "I have been a stranger in a foreign land"),
Eliezer ("my G-d has helped:" "the G-d of my father was my help and
delivered me from the swords of Pharaoh").

Beginning with the Babylonian Exile (586 BCE), non-Jewish names found
their way into the Jewish given name lexicon and occupied varying positions
of importance, depending on which category of Jew adopted them, in which
time period they were adopted, and in which country they were chosen. By
the 12th century CE, the use of secular names had become so widespread in
Europe that the rabbis decreed that every Jewish boy must be given a purely
Jewish (Hebrew) name at circumcision. Thus, it became customary to give
two names: Shem HaKodesh, the sacred name for being called to the
Tora and for religious documents, and a Nickname, a non-sacred name
for civil and business purposes. This rabbinic statute is still binding
today.

Some non-Jewish given names were imported without change, while others
were modified in pronunciation in order to "fit" the Jewish psyche
properly. In addition to the original Hebrew names, then, this decree
confirmed the elevation of Aramaic, Greek, and Latin names to be shemot
hakodesh:

6. Aramaic, Greek, and Latin names

Also, by the 12th century, the development of the new Yiddish language
was gaining momentum, and Ashkenazic Jews (German, Alsatian, Austrian,
Polish, Russian) used secular (e.g., German) names widely and also
generated many Yiddish and non-Yiddish diminutives and nicknames to pair
with existing Hebrew names. This was the beginning of a broad use of
vernacular nicknames and diminutives associated with Jewish names but not
having the status of a sacred name. Some examples are:

Hebrew

Vernacular

Avraham

Aberke, Aberl, Aberlein, Avrom, Fromel, Everman, Evril

David

Tevel, Tevele

Elchanan

Elkin, Elkan

Elazar

Lasar, Lazar, Lazarus

Eliezer

Leeser, Leser, Leyser

Shmuel

Shmulik, Shmelke, Sanvil, Zanvil, Zangvil

Shlomo

Salaman, Salmon, Zalman, Zalkin, Zalkind

Yaakov

Yekel, Yukel, Yokel, Yankel, Yakovl, Kopel, Kopelman

Yehuda

Judel, Udel, Yudke, Yudko

Yisrael

Isril, Iserl, Srulik, Srul, Srol

Yitzchak

Eisig, Eisnik, Eisman, Itzig, Itzik, Itzl, Zekl, Sekel

Yosef

Yosel, Yosi, Yos, Yesse, Jessel, Yoske

Development of the Yiddish language began around 1000 CE, and finally
found its home in Eastern Europe where it became the lingua franca among
Jews, like Aramaic in its day. Many Yiddish names were drawn from German
names, but a significant number of others came from Slavic, Polish, French,
and other sources. Many Yiddish names were then also incorporated into the
Hebrew name lexicon, but in a somewhat different way than occurred for
Aramaic, Greek, and Latin names. First, Yiddish names were used to form
Legal double names with some Hebrew names (e.g., Arye Leib, Avraham
Everman, Baruch Bendit, Menachem Mendel, Shneiur Zalman; Dvora Dvoshe.)
Such names were valid names for calling men to the Tora, and for use by men
and women in religious documents. Then, the full name was forgotten or
changed by some Jews, so that in some cases, the Yiddish name was used
alone by men for an aliya or in religious documents. Thus, some Yiddish
names became full-fledged Hebrew names in some circles.

Accordingly, another category may be added to the list of Hebrew
names:

7. Some Yiddish names

We may summarize the dynamic adoption by Jews of new Hebrew (H), Yiddish
(Y), and non-Jewish secular (S) given names from other peoples and from one
another in Figure 1:

This diagram applies after the growth of the Yiddish language and
Yiddish names began seriously in the 12th century. Before the advent of
Yiddish names, their place was occupied by Aramaic, Greek, and Latin names,
until some of these eventually were absorbed into use as Hebrew names.
Later, secular names were absorbed from non-Jewish sources and were used as
is, were converted to Yiddish names, and some ended up as formal Hebrew
names.